Nevertheless, assisted-living homes are not always welcomed.

Iona Lott remained there, tending flowers in the small yard and sharing cuttings with visitors, until she moved to an assisted-living home in the mid-1990's.

As capital became widely available, about 20 more public offerings followed, including some for companies operating both assisted-living and nursing homes.

In contrast to nursing homes, assisted-living homes face few regulatory barriers.

For those in assisted-living and nursing homes, control of their lives is given up bit by bit.

He died November 4, 2006 at an assisted-living home in Victoria from the effects of cancer and recent abdominal surgery.

In one case from August 2002, an assisted-living home in Bay Shore called 911.

And consumer groups have expressed doubts about emergency response systems in some assisted-living homes and say more regulation is needed.

"First it'll go into assisted-living homes, then into R.V.'s," he says.

To get her environmental message across, she took rescued red-tailed hawks, opossums, turtles and barn owls to classrooms and residents at assisted-living homes.